We started pretty early on day 6, but that was only because we had a jam-packed agenda! We left Aivgnon around 9am and two hours later, we arrived in a gorgeous little town settled in Provence — Aix-en-Provence — known as “The City of 1,000 Hot Springs.” After our tour guide Angie showed us the meeting point, she took us to the center of town. Though it was freezing, there was an outdoor open-air market with fruits, vegetables, and other hand-made items. Windsor, Taylor, and I made our way through, blatantly snapping pictures and checking out the goodies like the tourists we were. As usual with the three of us, we all needed to use to the bathroom, so we found a small little cafĂ© to grab coffee and tea (and, of course, use their restroom). Â
After we warmed up, we popped into a few chocolate and candy shops in search of gifts to take home. We found a table selling lavender, and the woman explained the lavender was grown in the mountains of Provence. It also came in adorable little bags and wrappings, so we obviously had to pick some up.Â
We made it back to the bus on time, but unfortunately, our friend Brad did not. One of Angie’s rules was that if we were late to the Contiki bus, we had to sing. Brad was the first victim of this hysterical rule and proceeded to belt out Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss A Thing”, while the rest of us joined on the chorus.
An hour or so later, we arrived at the perfume factory, Fragonard. We had a guided tour of the factory, and saw the different flowers, the area where people can visit and create their own scent, and the general work that happens in the factory. Everything at Fragonard is still done by hand, and we were able to see one of the men create one of their soap products in the shape of a heart! Heart-shaped soap is definitely HC approved.Â
Downstairs, one of the women gave a perfume demonstration. She went through all of the different scents and sprayed samples for everyone. (Disclaimer: I have no sense of smell. Absolutely none. I took pictures of the pretty bottles instead.)
After our new friends grabbed some goodies at the Fragonard shop, we jumped back on the bus. We arrived in Nice around 4:00 and immediately were blown away by how beautiful it is. The stretch of boardwalk lining the ocean was covered in joggers and people walking their children or pets. Our hotel was right up the street from the beach, and smack between an adorable carousel and a mini-theme park for kids, complete with a moon bounce and a giant Ferris wheel.
Like many other hotels we stayed in, this one only had one elevator. This made it pretty difficult with 51 people, but we managed to get everyone into their rooms, dolled up, and out the door in an hour for our fancy Contiki excursion to Monaco!
In order to get to Monaco, you have to go through the hills of Nice along the water, which is stunning when everything is lit up. When we arrived, we all headed to a spot near the restaurant and the Royal Palace for a view overlooking the town and the water. In true Her Campus fashion, we took off our coats, whipped out our cameras, and took a few shots on the wall. You can’t let a view like that go to waste!
We ate dinner with our friend Chan from Korea, who was easily one of the most adored members of our tour. The food was delicious – Taylor still can’t stop raving about the salmon. Dinner was a fairly quick affair for a European meal (so only about two hours) because we were heading over to the Monte Carlo casino!
When we got to the casino, the first thing we noticed were the cars – the line of BMWs, Jaguars, Mercedes-Benz’s, Escalades and the like were a little hard to miss. The architecture of the buildings was stunning, and you could tell this was no ordinary casino. Inside, the Monte Carlo was decked out with super elaborate gold ceilings, giant paintings, and ornate carpets. We walked through at first to see what the casino was all about (unfortunately, we couldn’t take any pictures). The best part about the Monte Carlo – I’m seriously not joking here – was the bathroom. “Check it out,” Angie told us, “it ROTATES!”  The toilet seat did, in fact, rotate – unreal! The room was completely outlined in mirrors, and the once you were done using the bathroom, the toilet set began to rotate as a cleaner sanitized the entire thing. Windsor shot of a video of it, of course. #totalhercampusmove
We chose to watch the clientele of the casino – from uber rich old guys to their young, scantily clad “escorts.” Of course, we couldn’t just avoid the slots if we were in THE Monte Carlo – Taylor even won 6 euro! She was basically a high roller after that win.
We all gathered around 11:15 to head back with our driver (Pino) in our fancy limousine (the Contiki bus). Overall, it was a pretty exciting and glamorous outing! Who doesn’t love to pretend they’re rich and famous (and Selena Gomez) for a night?!
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